The evidence is piling up now: Obamacare really does seem to be helping the uninsured. Survey after survey is showing that the number of uninsured people has been going down since the start of enrollment last fall. the trend is unmistakable: Millions of people who didn’t have health insurance before the Affordable Care Act have gained it since last fall. The law is not just covering people who already had health coverage, but adding new people to the ranks of the insured — which was the point of the law all along. even health care analysts who think the law is a bad idea acknowledge that the evidence suggests the uninsured are being helped. Given the predictions of doom that accompanied the law’s passage and launch, that’s a sweet bit of vindication for the president and ACA supporters. “It will be better when we’ve got a whole year behind us, so we can tell how much [in the surveys] was noise and how much was reality,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin of the conservative American Action Forum, a frequent critic of the law. “Having said that, it sure looks like there are more people covered, and that’s a good thing.”

A survey by the Commonwealth Fund found that 9.5 million fewer adults are uninsured now than at the beginning of the Obamacare enrollment season. The Urban Institute’s Health Reform Monitoring Survey found a similar drop, with 8 million adults gaining coverage. And Gallup-Healthways survey reported that the uninsured rate has fallen to 13.4 percent of adults, the lowest level since it began tracking health coverage in 2008. the Commonwealth Fund survey also suggested that most of the people who have signed up for the Affordable Care Act are happy with their coverage — and aren’t just disgruntled people who were already insured and liked their own coverage better. According to the survey, 58 percent of the Obamacare customers said they were better off under their new health coverage, and only 9 percent said they were worse off than they were before. Even among people who previously had health insurance — the ones who might resent having to switch — 52 percent liked the new coverage, while 16 percent said they were worse off.

John Boehner was driven to tears again today. This time it happened at a closed-door meeting of House Republicans.

According to sources inside the meeting, it happened while Boehner was speaking to the group about the latest on his negotiations with Democrats over government funding .. in a rousing conclusion, he thanked the House Republicans for standing by him and supporting him through these tense negotiations.

The Republican conference responded with a standing ovation for their speaker.

As you could imagine, that prompted the Speaker to cry.

“Yes,” said one person at the meeting, “He cried, but only briefly.”

😥

Thank you bjw2

***

I did it again, I ventured in to Teapublican territory on the interwebs just to see how they were reacting to yet more Boehner tears. They are not happy bunnies:

“Now I am envisioning him welling up and boo-hooing at this very moment in front of Reid and Obama. All they have to do is tell him how much they respect and admire him. They’ll have him down to one billion in cuts by eleven p.m.”

“God help us. We need someone with ice water in his veins, not mother’s milk.”

“Come on, GOP; dump this guy. He is an embarrassment.”

“C’mon man, enough with the damn crying.”

“Recall how obama threw him a bone during the SOTU message. He didn’t dry up for a day.”

“Oh Geez. Get a Grip, Boner!”

“OMG”

“john boohoo is not the man to lead us out of this disaster. He needs to step down – ASAP!”

“WTF? I understand crying once, say at a soldier’s memorial or something, but over every single thing?”

First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during a student workshop event, ‘The Sound of Young America: The History of Motown,’ that brings students from across the country to participate in an event with Motown legends in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, February 24. Seated alongside Obama are (L-R): Singer John Legend, singer Smokey Robinson, record producer Berry Gordy and Robert Santelli, the GRAMMY Museums Executive Director.

‘The Motown Sound: In Performance at the White House’ is live on the White House site (here) tonight, 7:00 PM EST

MSNBC: The Democratic National Committee today announced the selection of Charlotte, NC, as the site of the party’s 2012 convention, a clear sign that Democrats will once again target the Tar Heel State in the upcoming presidential contest. It will be the first presidential-nominating convention to ever take place in North Carolina.